TEHRAN, Oct. 31 (MNA) – US Defense Secretary James Mattis has called for a ceasefire in Yemen and the start of peace talks in the next 30 days.

According to Ankara-based Anadolu News Agency, Mattis said Tuesday during a speech at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. that US wants “to see everybody around a peace table based on a ceasefire, based on a pullback from the border and then based on ceasing dropping of bombs.”

"We have got to move toward a peace effort here, and we can't say we are going to do it sometime in the future. We need to be doing this in the next 30 days,” he added.

Following Mattis’ remarks, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement saying it was “time to end this conflict, replace conflict with compromise, and allow the Yemeni people to heal through peace and reconstruction.”

Pompeo called on all sides to support UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths in finding a peaceful solution.

He also called for the cessation of hostilities from both the Houthi side and the Saudi-led coalition

Pompeo said substantive consultations under the UN Special Envoy must begin in November in a third country.

“A cessation of hostilities and vigorous resumption of a political track will help ease the humanitarian crisis as well,” Anadolu quoted him as saying.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a brutal war against Yemen in March 2015, destroying the country’s infrastructure, causing famine and a cholera outbreak, as well as the death of more than 10,000 people.

The latest report by United Nations humanitarian chief says the war on Yemen has left as many as 8.4 million people in need of urgent food aid.